Self-sealing one-way drain valve



Jan. 5, 1960 1. B. CLARK, JR., ETAL 2,919,670

SELF-SEALING ONE-WAY DRAIN VALVE Filed Nov. s, 1955 INVENTORS @www Q dal ATTORNEY SELF-SEALmG ONE-WAYI DRAIN VALVE? James B. clark, n., Monkton, Mahan M. Behles, Baufimore, and Donald K. Mackenii'e, Jr., Middle River,y

Md.,-assignors to The MartinCmpany, a corporation of Maryland Application November 3, 19545, Serial No. 544,735r` 3 Claims. (c1.`'11'4 1s's) 'Ihe present invention relatesfto a one-way drain valve and more particularly to a valve of this type which is` uniquely designed for use in conjunction with marine' vessels and ying boats.

It is known thatl marineves'sels including flying boats" Since the water taken on 'by the vessel or boatwilll increase its over-all weight and thus 'affect' its performance by decreasing its efliciency, it will be appreciated that anyv means which can be provided 4to remove this' water before it has a 'chance'to collect 'in appreciable quantities, which at the same time does not materially increase the weight of the vessel or boat, would be a valuable asset. Further, the water can be a source of annoyance and discomfort even when taken on in small quantities and hence from a purely subjective standpoint, rapid and eicient removal of water taken on would be extremely desirable.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a means for removing water from vessels or ying boats which means is in the form of a self-sealing, one-way drain valve which can be conveniently located in any part of a vessel or boat to allow water that has collected in this part to drain overboard and at the same time to prevent outside water, such as sea water, from entering the vessel or bo-at through the valve. As will be appreciated, this will neatly solve the problem of removing water which tends to collect in at least this part of the vessel or boat. The weight of the device is negligible and to all intents and purposes does not add to the weight of the vessel or boat. Thus, the vessel or boat in which the present invention is installed will not have its operational characteristics altered or its efliciency decreased.

It is a further object of the p-resent invention to provide a self-sealing, one-way drain valve which is composed of a minimum of parts only one of which moves and which is characterized by a very simple and light weight construction whereby it will not to any finite degree increase the weight of the vessel or boat in which it is incorporated.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a self-sealing, one-way drain valve of durable construction for mounting in a boat which will function etlciently and economically to prevent Water or other lluid from passing inboard through the valve and at the same time will expediently allow water or other fluid collected in the boat to drain overboard.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become mo-re fully apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in section showing the mounting of the valve of the present invention in a. ying boat;

Figure va view inisection taken :along line 2f-2lofi4 Figure 1; and,

Figure 3 is a view inf'section taken along line Shof-y Figure 1.

Referringnow to the (drawings, .there will be describeda preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. InV

the drawings, 10v representsjth'e anchor iloor of a flying boat. `Attached to the oorn 1t)` is a'surnpv 11 with its mouth or upper end in` registrywitha suitable hole de lined in the oor 10.I Fixed in'the'sump 1 1`is a petj-Y forated plate or screen 12 .shown best in Figure 3. Atvv tached to the bottom of the sump., 1 1 is'the self-sealing,-`

one-way drain valve of the present invention. The valve consists of a main body13 which is cylindrical inf-form,

and preferably transparent inforder to aiford visualV i t1 spection to determine when cleaning lis necessary, encvl' plates 14 and 145-each `of which engage with the body 13H through the4 intermediary of suitable sealing'gaskets 16 and 17. These'- gaskets Ymay be composed of syntheticrubber and-l serve to sealf thejbody of the valve aswell as other functions whichl/will becornekapparent asv the description progresses. The end plates 14 and' l15 are annular in characterdefning `central holes and projecting lugs 21. Bolt and: nut) assembliesy 22 connect the'er'idy plates, 4gaskets and body together. The associated gas-vkets 16 and 17 are likewisemannular ,in `character and define central holes whicyhjarie concentrically aligned with u ball 19 is preferably hollow in character and relatively j light. For this purpose, a table tennis ball prepared to preselected standards can be used.

As will be evident from the drawing, there exists an internal air pressure in the vessel which exerts a force in the direction indicated by the arrow.

The operation of the self-sealing, one-way drain valve is as follows. The ball 19 is normally held in its lowermost position whereat it is seated on the gasket 17. The

ball is held in this position by the indicated air pressure. Any water that collects on the anchor oor 10 runs through the hole defined by the anchor floor 1t) through the screen 12 and into the sump 11. Since the holes defined by the end plate 14 and gasket 10 are unobstructed, the water will fall into the body 13 of the valve and will oat the ball 19. As soon as the ball 19 rises from its seat on the seal or gasket 17, the water will begin to run out of the discharge tube 20 to the exterior of the flying boat. If water should enter the valve body 13 in appreciable quantities, the ball 19 will be oated to a position at the top of the valve body where it will seat on seal or gasket 16 thus sealing off further inilow of Water and at the same time will allow water already in the body 13 to drain off through the discharge tube 20. As will be evident, any back wash through the discharge tube 20 from the outside will immediately oat the ball 19 and seat it on the seal 16 thus preventing water from entering the ship from the outside. As previously explained, the ball 19 is constrained only for axial movement within the valve body 13 by virtue of the presence of the axial extending guide vanes 18. These vanes restrain the ball and facilitate its seating on the gaskets or seals 16 and 17. f

Whereas independent axial guide vanes 18 have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that any means can be employed which will constrain the movement of the ball Patented Jan'. 5,r L1960'- 19 axially. Thus, for example, the guide vanes 18 may be replaced by a perforated retainer tube composed of any material or even a spring. Also, the bolts 22 can extend within the cylinder 13 and in effect function additionally as the means to constrain the ball 19. The only consideration insofar as selecting a suitable means is to be sure that a favorable available water volume versus volume displacement of the ball ratio is preserved to insure that the ball will be floated. Thus, the vanes or other means cannot take up too much volume.

Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, nevertheless, various changes and modifications which are obvious to one skilled in this art from a knowledge of the present invention are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-sealing one-way drain valve system for draining the bilge of a marine vessel comprising a valve housing located in the bilge of the vessel, the upper end of said housing being connected in operative relation to a sump, a discharge tube connected to the lower end of said valve housing and leading to a point outside the hull of the vessel, said valve housing being vertically disposed and having a passage therethrough for the ilow of water from said sump to a point outside said hull, vertically aligned upper and lower valve seats at the upper and lower ends, respectively, of said valve body, a light weight ball valve located in said valve housing and freely movable between said valve seats, resilient means for assuring complete circumferential contact between said ball valve and said valve seats, and guide vanes located internally of said valve housing to guide the movements of said ball valve, said ball valve being normally biased into contact with said lower valve seat by internal pressure, and being substantially lighter than the uid passing through said valve body, being caused to oat in said valve body to permit fluid to pass in the downward direction through said valve body, said ball valve, when caused to oat upwardly into seating contact with said upper valve seat, being elfective to prevent the reverse flow of uid through said valve body.

2. The self-sealing one-way drain valve as defined in claim 1 in which said valve housing is transparent so as to permit visual inspection for determining if cleaning is necessary.

3. The self-sealing one-way drain valve as defined in claim l in which said valve housing comprises a generally cylindrical main body, and an end plate secured at each end thereof, said end plates being secured by a plurality of generally vertically disposed bolts holding said end plates in sealed relation with respect to the ends of said main body, whereby said valve housing can be easily disassembled for servicing by loosening said bolts.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 160,800 Walker Mar. 16, 1875 486,177 Couzens Nov. 15, 1892 933,891 Curry Sept. 14, 1909 987,532 Baab et al Mar. 21, 1911 988,369 Morrison Apr. 4, 1911 1,038,518 Bardo Sept. 17, 1912 

